Mass. officials monitoring intelligence from NY, NJ attacks

State Police are working to see if there is any connection to Massachusetts.

FBI agents and police look for evidence at the site of an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

Reuters

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Massachusetts officials are monitoring intelligence information from the recent attacks throughout the Northeast, according to state police.

The Commonwealth Fusion Center (CFC), which works in partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to collect and analyze intelligence related to terrorism, is monitoring the bombings in New York City and New Jersey, officials said.

Late Monday morning, Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old New Jersey resident, was in custody in connection with the bombings, after a brief manhunt. Officials believe that Rahami is the man seen in security surveillance footage recorded both near the explosion and on a nearby street where a pressure-cooker exlosive device was discovered.

Rahami was wounded and captured following a shootout with Linden, New Jersey, police.

"We’re obviously in a heightened alert," Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said on Boston Herald Radio's morning show. "We have additional resources around all our transportation centers. Obviously the officers out and about are paying more attention, not only to their own safety but to what’s going on in the community.”

The Chelsea explosion happened the same day that a man wounded nine people in a knife attack in a central Minnesota mall. He was a "soldier of the Islamic State," the militant group said on Sunday. The CFC is monitoring that incident as well.

Massachusetts State Police and CFC partners are gathering all possible information from the FBI and state and local law enforcement from the attack jurisdictions. MBTA Transit Police are monitoring and analyzing the events and said no nexus to the T has been found.

"The safety of our riding public and employees is our number one priority," transit police said. "We are on system and here for you."

Congresswoman Katherine Clark urged people to "be careful but also to carry on" after the bomb discoveries, according to State House News Service.

"Being from Boston, all of our hearts sunk when we heard about a bombing having to do with a pressure cooker," Clark told reporters before speaking to the New England Council on Monday. "It brought back so many painful memories from the Boston Marathon."

The Massachusetts State Police bomb squad has also been in touch with its counterparts in New York and New Jersey.

"We will continue to analyze that information to determine if it has any connection to Massachusetts," state police said. "As of this point, no nexus to Massachusetts has been found."